A Saudi Arabian court has changed the sentence of death of five people convicted in the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashojji murder case. The first five people were sentenced to death but now they have been commuted to imprisonment for seven to 20 years.

The prosecution says the journalist's family decided to pardon the culprits, after which the death sentence was changed.

But Khashojji's fiancée Hatiz Jengiz has called the decision a joke of justice.

The Turkish presidential office has also criticized the decision, saying that the decision does not meet the expectations of Turkey and the international community.

In 2018, Khuszhaji, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was attacked by a team of Saudi agents at the Saudi embassy in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, and his corpse was broken into pieces that could never be recovered.

The Saudi government said that the campaign under which they were killed was not known. A year later, Saudi prosecutors launched a lawsuit against 11 unnamed individuals.

But at that time, UN Special Envoy Agnus Callamard dismissed the trial as 'contrary to justice'. He concluded that Khashojji was 'knowingly and deliberately murdered under intrigue' for which the Saudi government is responsible.

Callamard said there was credible evidence that high-level officials, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, were personally responsible.

The Prince denied having a hand in the matter. However, two of his former colleagues have been charged in Turkey for abetment to the pre-planned murder of Khashojji.

Turkey accused the other 18 Saudi citizens of involvement in the killing.

Recording of Khushoji's murder

59-year-old journalist Khashojji left Saudi Arabia and moved to USA in 2017. He was last seen going inside the Saudi consulate on 2 October 2018. In fact, he needed some documents to marry his Ottoman fiancee Hatija Genghiz, in connection with that he went to the embassy.

Turkish Intelligence released an alleged audio recording of the conversation inside the embassy. Callumard came to the conclusion after hearing that Khashojji was 'brutally killed' that day.

The Saudi Public Prosecution concluded that the murder was not a well-planned conspiracy.

He said that the assassination was ordered by the head of the team that had been sent to Istanbul to 'convince Khashoji' to bring him back to Saudi.

According to the prosecution, after the scuffle, journalist Khashojji was forcibly restrained and injected in which there was too much medicine and he died due to overdose.

His body was handed over to local 'allies' outside the embassy in different parts. His remains were never found.

At the same time, Turkish prosecutors concluded that Khushojji was strangled and his body destroyed after entering the embassy.

Sentenced to death in 2019

In December 2019, the Criminal Court of Riyadh sentenced five people to death for 'executing and directly engaging in the killing of the victim'.

At the same time, three others were sentenced to a total of 24 years in prison for 'covering the crime and violating the law'.

Three people were discharged. Including Saudi Arabia's former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri.

Saudi's Public Prosecution questioned Saud al-Qahtani, former senior adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed, but was not charged.

Why was the punishment changed?

In May this year, Khashojji's son Salah announced that he and his brothers were 'forgiving those who killed the father', saying that the Almighty God would give the culprits the fruits of their actions.

Khashojji's sons accepted the argument that the murder was not pre-planned.

After this, the way for the punishment of the five convicts who got the death penalty under the Saudi law was opened.

On Monday, Saudi's Public Prosecution announced that the Riyadh Criminal Court had changed the death sentence of the five to 20 years in prison and three others to between seven and 10 years.

It was also said that these are the final decisions and now the criminal case will be closed.

"Today's decision in Saudi Arabia has once again made a mockery of justice," Genghis said in a statement.

He said, "The Saudi government is closing the case, without telling the world the truth about who was responsible for his death?" Who had planned, who ordered, where is his dead body? These are the most basic and important questions that have not been answered at all.

Callamard welcomed the death penalty, but also said that these decisions "cannot be tried to suppress what happened".

He tweeted, "This decision has no legal or moral validity. This decision came after a process that was neither fair nor transparent.

Callard said that Crown Prince Mohammed "has survived any meaningful investigation".

He again appealed to the US Intelligence Services to release his alleged assessment that the Crown Prince had ordered the assassination of Khashojji.

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